Helping those with special needs brings a special reward

Monday

Feb 3, 2014 at 3:15 AM

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part story about the New England Handicapped Sports Association, an organization that last year gave more than 400 skiing and snowboarding lessons to students with physical or developmental disabilities. Part one was published Feb. 2, in Foster’s Sunday Citizen.

By CONNIE EPPICH

news@fosters.com

NEWBURY — For Denise Mayfield of North Berwick, Maine, it only took one day as a volunteer for her to feel as though she had become a member of the NEHSA family.

Growing up as a military child, Mayfield rarely lived in one place very long and didn’t have much opportunity to ski as a child. After a divorce, she moved with her two young children from Illinois to Swanzey, where she had family. She was in her thirties when her children’s school offered a Sunday ski program at Vermont’s Maple Valley with lessons available for adults. Mayfield signed up with her son and daughter. After that, they’d ski together six or seven times a year.

When her children had grown and were living on their own, Mayfield’s job took her to Maine. Five years ago she and a friend, who lived in Jaffrey, were looking for a mountain halfway between them, where they could meet to ski inexpensively. When they found NEHSA, Mayfield said, the idea of helping people with disabilities to ski intrigued her. She and her friend decided to give it a try.

Her first day, Mayfield said, she felt welcomed and valued by the NEHSA staff and other volunteers. But she says it was first and foremost the gratitude of the students and families that made her want to return.

Now, after spending three to four days a week driving throughout New England for her marketing job, Mayfield gets in her car every Sunday and drives two hours each way to work with the NEHSA. She generously shares her skiing knowledge, but she learns from her students, too.

Mayfield recalls a lesson a few years ago when she was guiding a woman in her forties with a visual impairment who was able to only see shadows and colors. When they were riding the chairlift, Mayfield told the woman, “I’m impressed that you put so much faith and trust in us to get you down the mountain safely.”

The student said, “What other choice do I have? Stay home?”

“It’s that spirit that impresses me so much,” said Mayfield. “That’s true of all our students. They don’t give up.”

Another lesson Mayfield recalls was with a 12-year-old boy who had autism. It was the end of his first season and he had gotten to the point where he could ski on his own. Mayfield said the father was “over the moon” because this was something they could now do together.

The students “face various struggles everyday,” said Mayfield. “If what we do at NEHSA can make their day a little brighter, help to gain strength, balance, confidence or reach a goal the student or parent may have, it makes my day.”

Even after her friend quit volunteering several years ago due to health concerns, Mayfield has continued to work at NEHSA. “Tom [Kersey] and the other volunteers are all so wonderful I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else,” she said.

Two days after Christmas, Mayfield arrived at the NEHSA lodge before 9 a.m. Lessons wouldn’t start until 10 a.m., and volunteers were checking in and getting equipment ready for the day, equipment that could be made to adapt to whatever a student needed for a successful day on the slopes.

There were bungees for helping a student keep ski tips together and a tether used to control a student’s speed. A student with cerebral palsy might ride a bi-ski (a sit-ski with two skis) guided down the mountain by an instructor. A student with paraplegia might ski independently in a monoski.

Mayfield signed in at the window of the small administration office and checked the whiteboard for her assignment. Kersey stood quietly in the middle of the room, ready to greet volunteers and students and introduce them to one another, making sure that everyone had what they needed for a successful lesson.

Mayfield met Kirby Heffrin, 16, who would be assisting her in the lesson. They sat down to look over their student’s file. Linda Norlan (not her real name), 32, had been diagnosed with developmental delay and ADHD. The instructor’s notes from her lesson the previous day read: “Keep skiing, fine-tune corrections, she’s a pleasure, have fun.”

Norlan, a slender young woman just over 5 ft. tall, with dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, arrived with her parents. After meeting Mayfield and Heffrin, she sat down and began pulling ski gear from her bag. When her parents hovered over her, helping with socks and boots, she told them they should leave.

Norlan talked nonstop while donning her boots and helmet. She advised Mayfield not to leave her helmet on the floor and admired Heffrin’s pink goggles. “We have the same face mask,” she told Mayfield.

They started out at the South Peak learning area. In the lift line, Mayfield checked in with Norlan, asking if she needed help getting on the lift. Norlan didn’t need the lift slowed down, but they agreed on a 3,2,1 count as the chair came around.

At the top, they discussed goals for the day. Norlan said she’d been working on keeping her head up, knees bent. They also would work on pole placement.

After a few runs, including a steep pitch which Norlan handled easily, Mayfield asked, “Are you ready for the big mountain?”

Norlan said, “Yeah,” but Mayfield heard the hesitation in her voice and said, “You don’t have to go over there.”

When Norlan didn’t reply, Mayfield said, “Do you want to do a few more runs on South Peak?” Norlan agreed to that.

Two runs later, they headed over to the big mountain. At the summit, they admired the view overlooking the lake and mountains. Norlan pointed out her parents’ house.

Shortly after starting downhill, they hit an icy patch. Norlan turned her skis sideways and slid down. Mayfield encouraged her to control her speed and descent by traversing the slope. Skiers and snowboarders raced past. Norlan descended cautiously and didn’t panic.

Past the icy section, the trail got easier and less crowded. Norlan skied tentatively but stayed in control. She admitted to being nervous and chose to spend the rest of the day back on South Peak.

Throughout the day, Norlan was talkative. She commented on other skiers’ technique and shared details of her life. She said she lived independently, in her own condo in a community for adults with disabilities, worked part-time at a Walgreens and T.J. Max, and enjoyed playing basketball and tennis.

At the end of the day Norlan told Mayfield, “I’m glad there are people like you who take time to be with us, out of their busy lives.”

Mayfield gets great satisfaction out of the time she spends working with the NEHSA. She is looking forward to volunteering in March at the organization’s Winter Sports Clinic for disabled women veterans, an event she has worked for the past two years.

“Some of our students and their families face struggles and challenges everyday,” said Mayfield. “When I look at their strength, it gives me strength and makes me realize my problems are really minimal.”